ST. PETERSBURG | Bayfront Medical Center, one of the Tampa Bay region's last independent hospitals, said Wednesday it plans to join a for-profit hospital chain that operates 70 hospitals in 15 states.

By Letitia SteinTAMPA BAY TIMES

ST. PETERSBURG | Bayfront Medical Center, one of the Tampa Bay region's last independent hospitals, said Wednesday it plans to join a for-profit hospital chain that operates 70 hospitals in 15 states.

Bayfront, a private not-for-profit that has long prided itself on serving the poor and uninsured, is teaming up with Naples-based Health Management Associates. The partnership will include an affiliation with Shands HealthCare, the medical center at the University of Florida, for clinical care and research. HMA has a history of working with Shands.

HMA would acquire an 80 percent controlling interest in Bayfront, officials said. However, hospital officials said Wednesday it is too soon in the process to make the acquisition price public; if all goes according to plan, the deal would close in the first quarter of 2013.

Founded in 1977, HMA has 22 hospitals in Florida, including two in Polk County — Bartow Regional Medical Center and Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center in Haines City.

Bayfront would become a for-profit enterprise, but its remaining 20 percent stake would be controlled by a new, not-for-profit group called Bayfront Health, Education and Research Organization, or Bayfront HERO. The nonprofit, to be seeded with about $150 million from the transaction, will support initiatives such as community education and wellness programs.

The deal must be approved by the St. Petersburg City Council, which owns the land the hospital sits on. The council most likely will be asked to vote in mid-December.

Bayfront employees will become employees of the joint venture controlled by HMA. No layoffs are expected, said Kanika Tomalin, Bayfront's vice president of strategic planning. Hospital leadership will be jointly determined by the new ownership and existing officers.

The transaction would allow Bayfront to retire about $80 million in debt, officials said.

Bayfront has struggled as an independent organization at a time of consolidation in the health care industry. In recent years, Bayfront's operating margins, a key indicator of its core patient-care business, have been razor thin — less than 1 percent. It has been exploring "strategic" partnership for two years; discussions with HMA have been intensifying over the last year, hospital officials said.

HMA has pledged to invest $100 million in capital over five years to the joint venture. The partnership is expected to give Bayfront greater clout to negotiate higher payments from insurers.